Hamas Claims Israel Offered Deal for Soldiers’ Remains

Hamas claimed Wednesday that Israel had offered to release terrorists in exchange for the remains of two IDF soldiers, Hy”d, being held by the terror group. A Hamas spokesperson told Al Jazeera Wednesday that the terror group had “received an offer from Israel, but it does not meet the minimal conditions that we have set.”

Israel has not commented on the claim.

Hamas is holding the remains of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin, Hy”d, and Oron Shaul, Hy”d, as well as a live Israeli, Ebra Mengistu. With the comment Wednesday, Hamas apparently has confirmed reports from last week which said that Israel had offered to exchange Mengistu for Bilal Raza’ina, a top Hamas terrorist being held in prison.

Another attempt at deal-making took place last month, with the deal being brokered by Egypt. In that deal, Israel had offered to release 60 terrorists who were captured after 2011 from among terrorists who were re-arrested after they were released in the exchange deal for Gilad Shalit.

Over 1,000 terrorists were released to free Shalit in 2014, and several hundred have been re-arrested on terror charges since then. Israel has resisted letting these terrorists go and has refused to include them in deals for the release of the remains of Shaul and Goldin. However, the report said that Israel would agree to the condition if the re-released terrorists went to another country, like Qatar, and stayed there. Hamas refuses to accept this demand.